Five things for you to watch this weekend
THE TOURIST — SHOWMAX Jamie Dornan makes up for his disastrous Fifty Shades stints with a welcome left-of-centre turn in this dark comedy thriller as a character known only as “the man”, who wakes up in the Australian outback not knowing who he is or where he’s come from. As he pieces things together it becomes clear his past may be best left behind. His journey is full of thrills, laughs and solid performances —a compelling entry in the genre of outback madness. Episodes stream weekly from Monday.
MEN — PRIME VIDEO
Alex Garland continues his exploration of the psychological horror genre in this heavily symbolic frightener that stars Jessie Buckley as a woman who tries to escape the trauma of a personal tragedy by retreating to a small town in the English countryside. She’s increasingly terrified by something, or someone, in the woods who seems to be stalking her. What starts off with a sense of unease and dread shifts into a nasty nightmare as she battles for her sanity against demons from her past that may consume her.
VENGEANCE — APPLE TV+ BJ Novak makes his feature film directorial debut with this neonoir comedy that displays more than a touch of the Coen brothers’ influence in its madcap plot and cast of strange characters. Novak plays a journalist and podcaster who, after the death of a woman he dated, travels from New York to Texas to try to uncover the mystery of what happened to her. Once he gets there and starts sniffing around he finds himself embroiled in bizarre interactions and complications with an odd cast of local grifters.
STILL: A MICHAEL J FOX
MOVIE — APPLE TV+
The one-time king of ’80s comedy proves to be as entertaining and engaging as ever, even as a longtime sufferer of Parkinson’s disease, in this endearing documentary. The film uses archive, interviews and re-enactments to tell the story of Fox’s meteoric rise from funny Canadian army-base kid to globally beloved comedy star and his subsequent health battles and advocacy for research in and treatment of an illness that’s still incurable.
QUE VIVA MÉXICO! — NETFLIX
Though his films may be relatively unknown outside his native Mexico, director Luis Estrada has been celebrated in his homeland as one of its sharpest social and political satirists. His latest is a threehour, absurdist critique of modern Mexican society. It’s loose plot centres on what happens when a comfortable middle-class man returns to his hometown after the death of his grandfather, only to find himself at the centre of a bizarre fight with his family over the inheritance.